Do you need a visa for Spain? What your passport changes

Terms used

• NIE — The NIE is the identification number Spain gives to foreigners, used for tax, work, housing and official procedures.
• TIE — The TIE is the foreigner identity card issued to non-EU residents, and it includes the NIE.

Key rules

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: You need no visa, but you must register if you stay longer than three months.
• Visa-free entry: It is for visits only and never gives you the right to work or live in Spain.
• Long-stay visa: Most non-EU nationals must apply at a Spanish consulate in their country of residence before moving.
• Tourist entry: Arriving as a tourist does not let you start residence from inside Spain, except for the UGE routes such as the digital nomad visa.

Find your group

Your passport puts you in one of three groups. Only EU, EEA and Swiss citizens live in Spain without a visa or residence permit.

• EU, EEA or Swiss citizen: you can enter and stay freely at first, then register if you stay longer.
• Visa-exempt visitor: you can enter without a visa, but only as a visitor.
• Visa required: you need a visa before you travel.

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

You do not need a visa or residence permit. You can stay up to three months freely. For longer, register in person, not online, at the foreigners' office (Oficina de Extranjería) or a police station within three months of arrival. Book an appointment (cita previa) first. If you never registered, you can still apply at any time with a cita previa and proof of your current status only.

You get a registration certificate that includes your NIE. The certificate fee is 12 EUR in 2026. To register you must show one of these:

• You are working, employed or self-employed.
• You have enough money and health insurance. Cover through the public health system counts.
• You are a student with insurance and enough money.
• You are family of someone in one of these groups.

Family members who are not EU citizens get a residence card for family of an EU citizen. They do not need to start from a visa route.

• Non-EU spouse of an EU citizen: you have an automatic right to the residence card. Bring your marriage certificate, apostilled and translated if it is from outside the EU.
• Registered partner of an EU citizen: you have the same automatic right. Bring the partnership registration certificate.
• Unmarried, unregistered partner of an EU citizen: your entry and residence is facilitated but not automatic. It is decided case by case, and you must prove a durable relationship, for example 12 months living together or a child together.
• Child of an EU citizen: a child or grandchild under 21, or an older one who is financially dependent, has an automatic right. Bring the birth certificate and, for dependants, proof of dependence.
• Dependent parent of an EU citizen: you have a right of residence once you show dependence. Bring documents proving it.
• Other dependent relatives: entry is facilitated, not automatic; Spain decides case by case.

UK nationals are not in this group. A UK citizen with Withdrawal Agreement rights holds a Withdrawal Agreement card (UK Withdrawal Agreement residence in Spain); any other UK citizen follows the non-EU visa rules.

If you can enter without a visa

Visa-exempt nationalities include the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Singapore, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Malaysia, Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao SARs, and several Caribbean and Pacific states.

Visa-free entry only allows a stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area, for tourism, business or visits, with no work and no residence rights. Days spent in other Schengen countries count toward the same limit.

Border crossings are now recorded digitally, so overstays are easy to spot. ETIAS, the online travel authorisation for visa-exempt travellers, costs 20 EUR and applies from the last quarter of 2026.

If your nationality needs a visa and you only want to visit, apply for a short-stay Schengen visa (up to 90 days) at the Spanish consulate before you travel. It gives no right to work or live in Spain.

If you want to live in Spain and need a visa

If you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, including if your nationality is visa-exempt, you need a national long-stay visa (visado nacional). Apply at the Spanish consulate in the country where you live. It is often processed together with the residence authorisation. After arriving on the long-stay visa, collect your foreigner identity card (TIE) within one month.

Some routes are filed from inside Spain instead: the UGE routes (digital nomad, highly qualified, Blue Card, entrepreneur, intra-company transfer), arraigo and other in-country authorisations, and cases such as student extensions or changes. Which routes can start from inside Spain.

Documents for EU, EEA and Swiss registration

• Passport or national ID card, valid, from your home country.

• Form EX-18, the registration application form for EU citizens, filled in.

• Proof of why you can stay: a work contract, self-employment registration, proof of enough money plus health insurance, or student enrolment with insurance and funds.

• Fee payment form 790 code 012, paid before your appointment.